


every time I look at you, I see it

by lol-phan-af (lol_phan_af)



Series: loving you is my favorite thing to do [4]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Anxiety, Cats, Drunkenness, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, False Accusations, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Other, Polyamory, Reunions, Unrequited Love, Vignette Stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 13:38:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13812303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lol_phan_af/pseuds/lol-phan-af
Summary: six looks into alex/laf/jeffs relationship, this time from the inside*"Why do y'all never let me cook dinner?" Alex asked, reaching behind him to cradle Lafayette's jaw, grazing his thumb over their skin until their eyelids fluttered open."Because, while you're very good at it, our kitchen is almost always a complete mess after, and you still owe Lafayette money for the deposit they're not going to get back for getting cheese on the ceiling that one time."Lafayette cleared their throat and cuddled further into Alex. "I forgave him for that.""Yeah, but you won't let me pay the fucking deposit back.""It's not important."





	every time I look at you, I see it

1.  
  
When Thomas fell asleep on the couch that night, not wanting to try going upstairs and risk waking up Alex and Lafayette, he expected to either wake up the next morning undisturbed or be woken up in the middle of the night to one of his significant others dragging him to bed. What he didn't expect, however, was to wake up the next morning with all five foot six of Alexander sitting on top of him.  
  
" _Can we get a cat?_ " He whispered, face inches from Thomas'. Thomas groaned and turned to the throw pillow underneath him. Alex buried his face in Thomas' neck. "Please?"  
  
"Alex," Thomas whined, rolling over onto his stomach, yelping when Alex gently bit down on his shoulder. He smoothed his hands up Thomas' back. "It's too early for this."  
  
"Thomas," He mocked. "I made dinner last night specifically to talk about this, but you weren't home because you were having dinner with Madison."  
  
Thomas laughed. "What did you make?"  
  
"You don't get to know," he said. "What you get to _do_ is go with me and Lafayette tomorrow and adopt a f _ucking_ cat."  
  
Thomas sighed. "Sweet pea, we can't just decide randomly one night that we want a cat and then just go _get_ one. We have to talk about it."  
  
"I did not just decide! We talked about this _months_ ago! Remember?"  
  
They _had_ talked about this before, months ago, when Thomas asked when he wanted for their anniversary and Alex _pleaded_ for a cat, but they never really discussed it beyond deciding that that wasn’t the right time. In the end, Thomas bought him the necklace he'd wanted to get Alex since a week after his birthday, and two dozen chocolate covered strawberries and that'd been it. Alex mentioned it a few times after, but never enough to lead to a full conversation.  
  
In all honesty, getting a cat would be nice, making Alex happy was always nice, but it's such a big responsibility, and Thomas wasn't sure he could handle that. He wasn't sure if Alex understood that, if he understood how heavy that kind of commitment weighed on Thomas, how every step he took with them, while making him so happy and grateful, terrified him, how it meant he had more to lose if they ever realized he would never be good eno—  
  
"Babe," Alex whispered, rubbing Thomas' back. "We were having _un chat_ chat, where'd you go?"  
  
Thomas rolled back to him, putting his hands flat on Alex's thighs. "Nowhere, just thinking. A cat is, like, a _big_ thing, Alex. It's basically like having a child, it requires more than just one conversation." He wondered if Alex could feel his heart beating.  
  
"But I'm cute and you love me." He pouted, tracing patterns into Thomas' skin.  
  
"Where's Lafayette on this?" Thomas asked, taking his hand and looking at his knuckles. There was not one part of the man in front of him that he didn't love.  
  
"Impartial, they know us."  
  
"I love them."  
  
Alex hummed. "Me too." They sat together in silence before Alex leaned down and kissed him. "I have to go talk to Hercules about your birthday present. I'll be back in about an hour."  
  
"Okay. I love you." Thomas sat up as Alex got off of him, laughing as he leaned down and kissed him.  
  
"I love you too!" Alex grabbed his jacket from the arm of the chair and bounced out the door, leaving Thomas wondering how he got so lucky.  
  
Lafayette trudged down the stairs then, rubbing sleep from their eyes, not even pausing before collapsing in Thomas' lap. They moved so they were on their back and Thomas' hands rested on their stomach.  
  
"Come back to bed with me."  
  
Thomas was up the stairs in no time.  
  
\---  
  
So, Thomas was a _little bit_ drunk, and he knows exactly why. Alex, the cute bitch, bought Thomas' favorite wine and a ton of the farmers market peaches he liked in an attempt to bribe him into getting him a cat. He wasn't stupid, he knew that was the reason, but he felt so warm and cozy from Lafayette and Alex's presence that he might just give them the world if they asked for it.  
  
"About the cat…" Alex whispered, combing his fingers through Thomas' hair. His hair was down, wavy and still damp from his shower, wearing Thomas' sweater and the shorts that barely made it to his thighs. He was truly pulling out all of the stops to get this cat, which just made Thomas more aware of how much this meant to him, about how much _Alex_ meant to _him_. He would give or do anything for him. He _would_ , but he'd never been good at letting himself do things, not even with this, not even if it was for one of the people he loved more than anything.  
  
"What about it?" Lafayette rubbed his calf, laughing to themself as they downed their own glass of wine.  
  
" _Please?_ " Alex breathed, kissing his forehead, going on to kiss cheeks and nose. "Please, please, please?"  
  
"Alex, we don't know how to raise a cat. I don't even know how to raise _myself_."  
  
"If I could interrupt," Lafayette said, moving closer to Alex. "I know some things about raising cats, my grandmother used to have four when I lived there, and I picked up a lot, considering. Also, I think this, in all honesty, would be really cute."  
  
Alex stared at them. "You're fighting for me."  
  
"This is not a fight," they kissed him, "and I am completely independent, like I always am when the two of you are on opposite sides of things. This time, our sides just happen to coincide."  
  
Thomas looked up at them, heart so full he could cry. A cat, a pet of any kind, was like a kid. He wanted to have kids, he wanted to have kids with _them_. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with them, and he knew that, he'd known that, but seeing them now and having that realization wash over him when he was in such a drunk state was too much for him to handle.  
  
"I love you both," he choked, tears flooding his eyes. Lafayette and Alex glanced worriedly at each other. "I want to name the cat."  
  
Alex nodded and kissed him sideways. "Of course. Of _course_ , are you okay?"  
  
Thomas sat up hit Alex's arm. "No! No, of course I'm not! I'm drunk and in love and we're getting a cat and you—! You did this to me on purpose and you're a little monster but I love you both to death." He laughed, crying, burying his face in Alex's shoulder. He kissed the side of his cheek.  
  
"I think you lost the point, sugar cube."  
  
Thomas snorted. "Sugar cube?"  
  
"Thought I'd try it out," Alex said. "Come on, though, let's go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow."  
  
Lafayette held Thomas' hips as they went up the stairs. "Can I pick the cat out since Thomas gets to name it?"  
  
"Sure." Alex squeaked. "We're getting a cat!"  
  
The first thing Thomas saw for the second morning in a row was Alex lying on top of him. This time it was better, though, as he wore only his boxers and his hair was still wavy. What ruined this beautiful image for him, though, was the fucking _splitting_ headache that seemed to take over his whole body and the nausea that stirred in his stomach was not helped by Alex sitting on him, no matter how cute he was.  
  
"Don't say anything," Alex told him, holding out a glass of water and two ibuprofen. "We're gonna get breakfast before going for cats."  
  
" _Cat_ , singular." He sat up, groaning as Alex climbed off of him and sat next to his legs, and took both of the little orange pills. "Don't push your luck, my love."  
  
Alex smiled, eyes soft behind his glasses. Thomas looked down at the _Rachel_ tattoo on his collarbone and then back up at him, the little beauty mark on his cheekbone and his widow's peak, the red skin around his eyebrows that told Thomas Lafayette just plucked them. The toothpaste on the corner of his mouth and the day old peach fuzz on his cheeks, the smooth column of his throat and the soft skin of his chest and stomach, the bumps on the backs of his arms he could never get rid of, the hair on his legs and the spaceships on his boxers and fuck, Thomas loved him.  
  
"You know, your threats would have a much harder impact if you didn't call me love at the end of them." Thomas took another sip of water.  
  
"But you are my love." He inched closer to him until their noses were touching and closed his eyes. "I'm so lucky to have you."  
  
"Even if I do shit like get you drunk to convince you to adopt a cat with us?"  
  
Thomas sighed, but smiled. " _Even if_ you do shit like get me drunk to convince me to adopt a cat with you."  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you too, sweet pea."  
  
"Go get ready."  
  
Thomas nodded, grabbing his phone as he went into the bathroom, smiling as Lafayette faced the ceiling and rubbed face wash into their skin. They looked blissed the fuck out, swaying to imaginary music and hummed. Thomas cleared his throat and jumped when Lafayette did. They smiled, though, leaning over and kissing his cheek. Thomas wiped the soap off and reached for his toothbrush.  
  
"I heard you and Alex being cute," they said, leaning down and rinsing off their face wash. "Are you sure you want to get this cat?"  
  
"Of course I am. I just wasn't sure if this was too big for us or not, I didn't want us getting too big for our britches and taking on more responsibility than we could handle. If we adopted a cat and then had to give it up, it'd break your and Alex's hearts. I couldn't, I wouldn't be able to shoulder that. I love you both too much." He ran his toothbrush under the water. "But then I realized that we're _us_ , and we can literally take over the whole world if we wanted, and I do want this both with and for you, and I'm sure of that."  
  
Lafayette stared at him for a moment before grabbing his face with both hands and kissing him. "We love you too, and if there's anything you ever want ever again for as long as we live, we owe it to you."  
  
Thomas paused, panting a little. "I want more of those peaches, and for you to kiss me like that again."  
  
"No problem." They kissed him again, Thomas dropping his toothbrush onto the sink and wrapped his arms around Lafayette's neck. Lafayette laughed and turned them so Thomas leaned against the counter. Alex stomped in, arms crossed over his chest, trying to look intimidating in boxer shorts and a sweater.  
  
"Get dressed," he demanded. "We're going to pick our kid." He swiveled and walked away, his footsteps loud enough that they could hear him walking in their closet.  
  
Thomas sputtered. "Our _kid?!_ "  
  
"It seems _notre chat_ is now _notre enfant_."  
  
"I'm...okay with that, actually."  
  
Lafayette kissed his neck and jaw. "I'm going to get dressed and make sure _notre petit croissant_ isn't actually upset with us, you should probably get ready."  
  
"Okay, tell him I love him."  
  
"Will do."  
  
He was halfway through brushing his teeth when his phone went off.  
  
_(7:58)_ ** _lafayette <3_** _: he's not upset he just really wants to get our cat_ _  
__  
__(7:58)_ ** _babe <3_** _: okay that's good I love him so much_ _  
__  
__(7:59)_ ** _babe <3_** _: we are still going to breakfast though right because I Desperately need this ibuprofen to work harder and it does that on a Full Stomach_ _  
__  
__(8:00)_ ** _sweet pea <3_** _: we're going to the brunch place with the waffles and I'm gonna eat as fast as I can bc I want our child !! we are IN LABOR and we need to give BIRTH to a NEW CHAPTER of our LIVES_  
  
_(8:01)_ ** _lafayette <3_** _: oh my GOD_ _  
__  
__(8:02)_ ** _babe <3_** _: ALSO PLEASE EAT NORMALLY WE DO NOT NEED A REPEAT OF THE FIRST TIME WE EVER WENT GROCERY SHOPPING TOGETHER WHEN WE MOVED IN HERE_ _  
__  
__(8:02)_ ** _sweet pea <3_** _: HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED THAT MAYBE YOU JUST CANT DRIVE AND THAT YOUR CONSTANT TURNING IS WHAT M A D E ME THROW UP_ _  
__  
__(8:03)_ ** _babe <3_** _: nO, BECAUSE UNLIKE YOU I HAVE A LICENSE AND I CAN  P A S S  A DRIVERS TEST_  
  
_(8:04)_ ** _babe <3_** _: !! wait can I teach you how to drive_ _  
__  
__(8:05)_ ** _sweet pea <3_** _: ?? gET IN HERE ?? BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT YOU TEACHING ME HOW TO DRIVE ??_ _  
__  
__(8:06)_ ** _sweet pea <3_** _: wait can we fuck in the car_ _  
__  
__(8:06)_ ** _babe <3_** _: I mean,,,,sure,,,,_ _  
__  
__(8:07)_ ** _sweet pea <3_** _: ,,,,then yeah you can teach me how to drive_ _  
__  
__(8:08)_ ** _babe <3_** _: yAY_ _  
__  
__(8:08)_ ** _sweet pea <3_** _:_ _NOW GET IN HERE_ _  
__  
_ Thomas rinsed the toothpaste out of his mouth, forgetting about the rest of his routine and running to the closet where Alex sat on the counter and Lafayette struggled to force their legs into their Ultra skinny jeans. Alex looked stunning, as always, light pink sweater and the same jeans Lafayette shoved themself into. Thomas groaned internally, knowing he'd have to find his own pair of those jeans and fight the fucking _bad_ fight that were trying to fit his log legs into jeans pencil-wide.  
  
"You mean it about letting me teach you how to drive?" Thomas questioned. Alex handed him his black jeans. Fuck.  
  
"As long as you hold up your end of the deal, sugar cube."  
  
He pulled Thomas in by the neck and kissed him. Lafayette snorted as Thomas melted and whimpered, holding Alex's waist and trying to drown in him. He wanted this cat, but fuck if he didn't just want to take Alex and Lafayette to bed this very minute. They made him dizzy, made his heart burn hot in his chest and his nerves ignite from the pit of his stomach. He felt drunk all over again on them.  
  
"Is 'sugar cube' going to be a _thing_ now?"  
  
"You get sweet pea, Lafayette and I get the entire French language, let me have this."  
  
"I never said I didn't like it, love" He kissed Alex's forehead and grabbed his jeans, sighing before stepping into the legs that were definitely going to kill him one of these days.  
  
Alex herded them out and rushed through breakfast, downing four slices of french toast and convincing Lafayette and Thomas to box the rest of their food up so they could go. Thomas didn't mind, loved seeing how giddy this made both of the loves of his life as he got in the car next to Alex got pulled in to kiss him. Alex squealed against his lips.  
  
"Thank you so much for this. I love you."  
  
Thomas kissed his nose. "I love you too, I would do anything for you."  
  
He couldn't even blink before being pulled down on top of Alex in the backseat and smothered by Alex's lips. Lafayette laughed, sighing to show they disapproved of this car behavior before driving off.  
  
"You're amazing," Alex whispered. "I'll never be able to thank the world enough for giving me someone like you."  
  
"Alex," Thomas whined, burying his head in his shoulder. "You're the whole world to me." He paused. "...Well, half the world."  
  
"I love you," Thomas told Lafayette, getting off of Alex and leaning forward to kiss them on the cheek. Lafayette hummed and pulled into the pet adoption building parking lot, throwing Thomas to other side of the car as they parked and ran out with Alex.  
  
"The loves of my life, everyone, the people I plan to be with until the day I die," he huffed to himself and then crawled out of the car, catching up to them and grabbing their hands.  
  
They spent approximately twenty minutes in the building before Lafayette found a cat. Even Alex suggested looking at other ones, at least making it to the end of the hallway, but they were in _love_ with this tiny little gray cat who looked more like a ball of fluff than a cat. Alex nodded and came up behind them to see it, eyes widening as tears came to them and he started crying almost on cue.  
  
"Oh my god," he choked. "What the fuck?" He turned away and went into his group chat with Eliza and Hercules, typing something rapidly before turning back to them.  
  
"What are we naming her?" Lafayette asked as the man showing them around went to get her from her little enclosure. They looked over to Thomas, soft first, before immediately becoming afraid when they saw the gleam in his eyes.  
  
"I was thinking Fettuccine? I was going to go with a pasta anyway, but now I see her and I think Fettuccine works best. Also I get to name her per our agreement, so."  
  
Alex took the cat from the man and cuddled it close to his chest. "If I wasn't so in love, I'd argue, but because you're cute and we did make a deal, Fettuccine it is." He kissed Fettuccine's forehead and went with Lafayette to go fill out paperwork.  
  
\---  
  
Thomas didn't know how cats worked in any capacity, or if they understood how, exactly, staring contests work, but he was _sure_ he was having one with Fettuccine and that he was losing terribly. The cat never blinked, never, made him regret agreeing to stay down here with her while Lafayette and Alex went upstairs to get money from the safe.  
  
"I didn't want a cat at first," Thomas said to her, rubbing behind her ears. "I was scared we wouldn't be making the right choice, but then I saw how much Alex, your other parent, wanted one, and I love him so much, I'd give anything to him." Thomas tried to pull away from Fettuccine but she followed him. "Now, though, you're not that bad. I'm more than happy to have you with us."  
  
The loud sob stole Thomas from his thoughts, whipping around to see Alex standing in the parlor crying, one hand over his mouth, the other holding his phone. He ran over and collapsed in his lap, grabbing his face and smashing their lips together. Tears fell on Thomas' face from him, not caring that Fettuccine just sped up the stairs into their room.  
  
"I love you," he choked. "I love you so so much." He sobbed, more tears falling from his eyes. "I can't even find words for it, Thomas, I just love you so much I'll never be able to thank you enough for this."  
  
"You don't have to!" Thomas laughed, kissing Alex's cheek. "I agreed to and wanted this; you did nothing to force me into it, only convinced me by being cute and reminding me how much I love you. And I love you too, by the way."  
  
"I'm crying so much today," Alex laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "You and Fettuccine have me fucked up." He grinned and let more tears fall as Thomas kissed the side of his head.  
  
"I adore you."  
  
" _Thomas_ ," Alex whined. "Do you want me to die? Because this is how you die me."  
  
"... _Die_ you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Lafayette came down now, cooing over Fettuccine in their arms. "I have the money and _le chat_! Let's—oh. _Mon petit pois_ , what's wrong?"  
  
Alex nuzzled into Thomas' neck. "Nothing. I just love Thomas a lot and I'm emotional."  
  
"Okay," they nodded, "that's understandable. Are you ready to go now?"  
  
"Yeah," Alex answered, standing up and taking both of their hands. "Let's go spoil our daughter."  
  
Thomas beamed as they dragged him out of the apartment. They were a family.  
  
2.  
  
Thomas loved his significant others. He loved them so much sometimes he felt overwhelmed by it, how it wrapped around him and held him there, bathed him in the warmth and comfort nobody else could even figure out how to provide. They fit together like puzzle pieces, holding each other together like second nature. Thomas would give anything for either of them, and he knew they felt the same.  
  
Or, at least he thought he knew. Three years together, building his trust in them brick by brick, Thomas would like to believe it was structurally sound enough that it didn't collapse just because one small piece of anxiety forced its way through the mortar, but there he was, staring at the text from Alex saying he was out with Hercules. Again. For the sixth Saturday in a row.  
  
"Do you know where Alex goes every Saturday?" Thomas asked Lafayette, who stood with their back to him, washing dishes.  
  
"Not really. He said he went out with Hercules, didn't he? That's probably where he is. Why?"  
  
Thomas didn't answer, not thinking before going to his recent calls and pressing Alex's contact name.  
  
" _Hi love!_ " Alex's voice rang clear on the other line. Thomas could feel him smiling.  
  
"Hey, sweet pea. I was just, uh, calling to remind you about our date tonight? I was going to tell you this morning, but..." He sighed, tried to ignore the shaking in his voice and the way his hands felt so clammy his phone was about to slip right out of his hands. He saw Lafayette stiffen, but they made no move to say anything. Fuck, what was he _doing?_  
  
" _Oh, I know! I'm really excited for it actually._ "  
  
" _Thomas?_ " Hercules asked, voice low and quiet. Thomas swallowed.  
  
"That's good," he blurted out. "I just called to make sure, our"  
  
" _I should be home by, like, four, so I'm sure I won't be late._ "  
  
"Where are you?" Thomas questioned, and this time Lafayette did turn around, eyes wide. Shit. _  
__  
_ " _Oh, uh, I'm just….at lunch...with Hercules. I'll see you tonight, bye!_ "  
  
Silence hung in the air between them, Thomas' whole body burning with fear and shame, Lafayette staring at him with furrowed eyebrows, like they didn't even recognize him anymore. The world slipped away from him, heart pounding in his ears as his vision swam.  
  
Alex came home, wiping tears from his eyes as he burst through the door. Thomas jumped, but Lafayette stayed seated on the couch, back to him. They refused to look at him, stating clearly that they did not support him in this, and that if he needed to look somewhere for ground to stand on to explain this, they were not an option.  
  
"Hi," Alex breathed, face red, wet with tears he tried to wipe away. He stood in the middle of the room, hands swinging useless at his sides.  
  
"Hey. Where were you?" He could barely hear his own voice, nothing felt real.  
  
"L-Lunch with Hercules, I told you."  
  
"Yeah, yeah you did, but...why? You've been out with Hercules for the past month and a half, and you haven't told us anything."  
  
Alex sniffed, didn't look at him. "I know what you think."  
  
"...Am I right?"  
  
Alex backed away from him, more tears falling from his eyes. "Are you kidding me? You think I would—? Ever? D-Do you even know me? _Thomas_."  
  
"I don't know," Thomas said, eyes focused on the wood floor, the pattern quaking.  
  
"You don't _know?_ You've known me for four years, I've loved you for three years of that time, Thomas! You're one of the _only_ people that _knows._ I thought, I thought you would trust me, or at least _try_ to trust me, instead of—"  
  
"I've been trying, Alexander!" Thomas snapped, louder than he meant to. No. No no no no.  
  
"Obviously not! If, instead of believing that I would _never_ hurt you, you let yourself believe that I'm _cheating on you?_ " He swallowed, still crying, breath shuddering as he tried to say something else.  "I, I thought you—I thought _we_...It doesn't matter. Nothing matters to you."  
  
Alex turned and walked out of the apartment, still crying, slamming the door behind him. Thomas blinked the tears from his eyes, body filled with static and white noise. Please no.  
  
Lafayette faced him now, eyes red and wide but not crying, as still as stone. Their breathing came out rapidly, picking at their nails. They rushed past him and up to their room, locking the door as they shut it. What did he just _do?_  
  
Thomas sighed, sitting down on the dining room floor. He didn't think he had it in him to walk another step. He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face in them. The one good thing he had, and he just ruined it. He wouldn't be surprised if they broke up with him, he deserved it after this.  
  
The sun was close to setting when Lafayette came out of their room, coat buttoned and shoving a hat over their hair, frizzy the way it always got when they slept on Alex's side of the bed. They didn't explain, just went out the door and slammed it shut again. Thomas flinched, but didn't move, waiting for them to come back.  
  
How could he do this? Alexander, the love of his life, the person he imagined marrying and the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and he just pushed him away like that. Instead of trusting him, he let his own anxieties drown him, and now he might've lost him forever, along with Lafayette. He was so stupid.  
  
Lafayette came back, fighting tears. "I can't find Alex. He's not with Hercules, or Eliza, or the Washington's. I even checked the office for him and he's nowhere, I looked in streets and parks and that stupid fucking wine shop." They took of their hat and grazed their fingers around the brim. "I love you, Thomas," they looked at him, "but if anything happens to him, I swear to god I will never forgive you."  
  
"Lafayette, _please_. Let me help find him." Thomas scrambled to stand. "I know I fucked up and I understand you not forgiving me, I don't deserve it, but please, _please_ , let me help. I love him, and I know I've been fucking terrible at showing it, but—"  
  
"There's nothing else we can do, when I say I looked everywhere, I mean it. I tried calling him, texting him, but he won't answer. His phone is either off or on do not disturb, either way we can't get to him."  
  
Thomas crossed his arms over his chest, realizing for the first time how cold it was in their house. "We can keep trying?"  
  
"You try. He might not be answering me because he thinks I'm trying to fix it, and that is _not_ my job here."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I'm making food since we have to miss our date now. Call him."  
  
Forty calls, nothing. Lafayette listened to his voicemail, stiff every time it played, Alex laughing as he excused himself for not picking up the phone because he was probably at work or just not looking. Thomas bit his thumb nail as he remembered when Alex recorded this message, after Thomas complained about the default woman that always played and then convinced Alex to change it as he leaned over and kissed his neck just so he would have to giggle his way through it. He wasn't helping himself.  
  
Lafayette set a bowl of soup down in front of him. "You have to eat."  
  
"Thank you," Thomas whispered. He set his phone down on the table, giving the phone calls a rest as Lafayette handed him a spoon.  
  
They stared down at their own bowl. "...No problem."  
  
\---  
  
Thomas blinked as Lafayette poked him in the forehead. He wasn't asleep, but close to it, after getting none all night because he'd been too worried about Alex. Lafayette hadn't slept either, but there was a pot of coffee steaming and their mug already sat cleaned and dried on the rack.  
  
"We're going back to Eliza's," they told him, then got up to grab their coat.  
  
Thomas squinted at him and stood. "I thought you said he wasn't there?"  
  
They didn't seem to listen, not looking at him, probably not wanting to. "Get dressed, we have to go."  
  
Thomas nodded. "Okay. Okay, I'll come."  
  
"You don't have a choice."  
  
\---  
  
Thomas felt like he was about to crawl out of his skin and simultaneously curl up inside his own body. He didn't want to face Alex almost as much as he didn't want to lose him, both conflicting feelings churning in his stomach until he was about to throw up. Lafayette recounted everything that happened in the car on the way over, more to themself than Thomas, getting more upset as they went on, anger renewing, not looking at Thomas or wanting to even speak to him.  
  
"Are you going to talk to me?" Thomas asked. He sounded like a child, he hated it.  
  
They sighed. "Sure. If you stop acting like a child and actually make me believe that you're thirty years old instead of _three_."  
  
Thomas flinched. " _Gilbert_ ," he pleaded, desperate. Lafayette didn't budge.  
  
"He's the love of our life, Thomas. We've been together three years and the _only_ serious thing he _ever_ asks us for is to trust him. We have offered the world to him, time and time over, and he refused it every single one because all he wants is for us to love him and trust him and believe that he would never do anything to hurt us on purpose, which he _wouldn't_. Then, instead of believing him, you let your own anxieties and unfounded fears plague your mind and accuse him of something he would rather _die_ than do. So _no_ , you don't get to _Gilbert_ me."  
  
"I know, I know what I did, and I'm sorry. I was being stupid." He tried to hold back his tears. "I know, I _know_ that. I love him, Lafayette, I didn't mean to hurt him. I was just being an idiot."  
  
"I'm not the one you should be telling this to." They looked over at him for the first time in almost an hour, eyes softening. "Just so you know, I still love you. I'm upset, and I think that this is _stupid_ because you can't think things through before you _act_ , but I'm not-" they sighed, "I do love you."  
  
Thomas nodded and Eliza tore open the door. She stared at them and their disheveled states, knowing exactly why. Thomas looked inside her empty apartment, heart racing as it was empty, but still having hope.  
  
"Eliza _please_ , please tell me he's here," Lafayette begged. "He won't answer my calls, or Thomas', and he didn't come home last night. I know you said he wasn't here, but—"

"He's here. He's been here since last night, but he wasn't, he didn't want to see you yet. He was really upset last night, Laf, so whether or not he wants to see you now is his choice." She glanced back to the hallway, leaning forward. "If he doesn't want to see you, you have to leave. I'm not kidding."  
  
They nodded and stepped into Eliza's living room. It wasn't long before she came back out with Alex behind her, oversized shirt drowning him. Thomas saw him for a moment before Lafayette pulled him to them, crying. Thomas blinked tears out of his own eyes, guilty that he did this to them, to Alex, to put them through this just because his irrational fears crept into his mind and he did nothing to stop them. Lafayette whispered in French to him, laughing as Alex responded.  
  
"I'm so glad you're okay," Lafayette whispered, wiping the tears from Alex's face with their thumbs and moving his wet hair out of his face.  
  
"Please, can we go home?" Alex asked, hands on Lafayette's waist. "I want to sleep more, and I miss Fettuccine." His voice dropped lower. "Plus, Hercules almost killed me last night, and I would like to make sure that doesn't happen again."  
  
Hercules emerged from Eliza's room now, the shirt he wasn't wearing no doubt the one Alex had on. "Rude."  
  
Lafayette swept their thumbs across his cheeks again and kissed his head. "Of course, love."  
  
Alex took Lafayette's hand and turned to leave, stopping at Thomas. He looked at him and shut his eyes, exhaling. Thomas felt like he was about to collapse, to surrender under the guilt and be crushed by it, a fitting consequence. He braced himself for whatever Alex was about to say, gasping softly to himself when Alex took his hand, instead of yelling at him like he deserved.  
  
"We can talk at home," was all he said before pulling them both out of the apartment.  
  
Thomas sat tense in the back of the taxi as Alex leaned on his shoulder, half asleep. He didn't understand. He didn't deserve this, of Alexander in any capacity. He hurt him, he accused him of _cheating on them_ , why, in response, did Alex even want to _breathe_ in his general vicinity. Lafayette held Alex's hand in between both of their own, kissing his knuckles and whispering French into his skin, Thomas trying to ignore listening. This wasn't meant for him. Alex moved away from Thomas, kissing Lafayette's cheek.  
  
"My love, I'll always return to you, one way or another. You don't have to thank god for returning me to you."  
  
"I'm grateful for it whether it's your doing or not," they replied.  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
\---  
  
Thomas sat on the couch next to Alexander, who looked down at Thomas' hand that he took, tracing the lines of his palms and fingers, grinning to himself. Thomas didn't know what he was doing, just let him have this, would let Alexander have anything he asked for right now. The little smile on his face dropped and he faced him, beautiful in every aspect. Thomas blushed, even now.  
  
"I should've trusted you," Thomas blurted out. "I'm sorry I didn't, and I'm sorry that instead of figuring out and fixing my own problems, I let them manifest and got mad at you even when you didn't do anything. I'm so sorry, Alexander. This is all my fault, I—"  
  
Alex cut him off by kissing him, the acrid taste of cherry tea faint. Thomas gasped, kissing back, heart twisting into knots. He almost lost this, how could he lose him?  
  
"I forgive you."  
  
"Y-You don't have to. I fucked up, and I know that. You don't have to forgive me now, you don't have to forgive me eve—"  
  
"I know I keep interrupting, but I thought about it, Thomas. I forgive you, but you can't, you _can't_ put me through that again. _Please_ ."  
  
Thomas let tears stream down his face. "Of course, _of course_ , Alex. I'm so sorry."  
  
"I love you," Alex whispered, holding his jaw in one hand.  
  
"I-I—" Thomas choked, sobbing. Alex's eyes widened, kneeling next to him on the couch. He cupped his face in both hands.  
  
"Thomas, sugar, what's wrong?"  
  
"You, you can just forgive me like that? I _hurt you_ , Alex, I betrayed your trust and I—I'm. I love you so much, but do I, am I even worthy of that?"  
  
Alex pulled Thomas into his arms and let him cry, thinking about the bottomless fucking pit that was Alexander's heart and how somehow he was thrown right the fuck over the edge to drown in him, to surround himself and be buried in the warmth of him, the kindness and forgiveness he doled out in unlimited rations. Thomas had never done anything in his live to merit such a love that Alexander gave him, and he probably never will.  
  
Lafayette came down a little later, their makeup from yesterday wiped off now, in sweatpants and one of Thomas' shirts, hair down now with Fettuccine in their arms.  
  
"Is, are things okay now?" They asked, rocking their small daughter. Thomas wiped his tears and nodded, Alex grinning at him.  
  
"Yeah," Alex replied, running his fingers through Thomas' hair. "Things are fine."  
  
Lafayette sat behind Alex and handed him Fettuccine, kissing the side of his neck. "Good."  
  
Thomas stood and went to get water, kissing Alex's forehead awkwardly. Lafayette and Alex whispered as he went, lying down on the couch and waiting for him to come back.  
  
Thomas took a bottle of water from the fridge and walked back, stopping in his tracks as he saw them, Alex on his back on Lafayette's chest, Fettuccine curled up on Alex's stomach. Lafayette twirled Alex's hair on their finger, letting it fall before taking another piece and repeating the process. Without saying a word, Thomas took his phone from his pocket and took a picture of it, putting it on his instagram without a caption. Anything he said wouldn't be enough, even if it was novels long.  
  
"What're you doing standing there?" Alex asked. "Come here."  
  
Thomas put his phone back in his pocket. "Where do you want me to lay?" He gestured to the three of them already curled up, content without him, but he pushed that down. Alex lifted up Fettuccine and gestured for him to come over, giggling as Thomas leaned on him. He gently set the cat on Thomas' stomach. He wasn't tired, but, with the warmth of Alex and Fettuccine purring on him, he fell asleep in no time.  
  
\---  
  
"I can't wait to go home and fucking, just...carry Alex up to our room and pass the fuck out. I'm so tired," Thomas whined, burying his head in Lafayette's shoulder. They laughed, holding his hips and kissing his hair.  
  
"That's what you get for wanting to go shopping with me. I play no games and take no survivors." Lafayette smiled, kissing him quick before the doors slid open. Thomas sighed, gathering half of the bags.  
  
"I just wanted to buy anniversary presents for you but _no_ . Suddenly I'm in the Coach store and you're buying, like, eighteen things."  
  
Lafayette nudged him with the bundle of bags they carried. " _Two_ ."  
  
"What about those watches?"  
  
"...Those are for you and Alex…" They mumbled. "You weren't supposed to see them until tomorrow night."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry love."  
  
"You're fine," they leaned over and kissed his cheek, etting one half of the bags on the floor to get their keys out. "And usually I don't keep things from Alex, but if he asks, they were _on sale_ ."  
  
Thomas nodded. "Of course."  
  
At first, he didn't notice anything wrong. He interpreted, falsely, Lafayette's gasp as they walked in as a sigh of relief that they were finally home, laughing as he set the bags down with the ones they dropped. It wasn't until he looked up and _saw it_ , Alexander, in a suit on a Saturday night, standing there with his hands behind his back, their dining table covered entirely in roses with pictures of them attached on stakes.  
  
"Alex…?" Lafayette breathed, hand covering their mouth, expressing the same one thought Thomas had. "Alex, if this is what I think it is…"  
  
Alex beamed at them both, smile too big for his face. "Depends on what you think it is."  
  
"Okay." They looked up at the ceiling, blinking tears from their eyes. "Tell us what this is, then."  
  
"Alright," Alex said, still smiling. He stepped away from the dining table, hands still behind his back.  
  
"Okay," Lafayette replied, refusing to look down as Alex got closer to to them and kissed their neck.  
  
"Alright." He put one hand out and took Thomas' wrist, pulling him forward so he stood next to Lafayette and kissed him. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too," he echoed back, not ready at the fuck all for what was coming.  
  
"I love you both so much," Alex told them, laughing to himself and bouncing on his feet. "I had a speech made but I'm so excited I forgot it. It doesn't matter, though, because the main points stay the same.  
  
"Four years ago, minus one day, you agreed, somehow, to love me and allow me to love you, taking me and all of my bullshit into your life even when you didn't have to. One week into our relationship I knew, I knew that I loved you, and then I told you both three days later because every time I look at you, I _see_ it, and I know. I still see it, when I look at you. You're both like beauty personified and magnified, every part of you seems to _radiate_ it, like you're made of stardust and and every stunning thing the world can figure."  
  
"Alex," Thomas choked, crying now.  
  
"I'm trying really hard not to cry right now, so I'm going to ask you to wait for the...very important question and answer period at the end of this speech."  
  
Thomas laughed, nodding. "Of course."  
  
"When I told you I loved you, in Lafayette's office, on a fucking Tuesday afternoon on our lunch break, you didn't freak out because you thought I was moving too fast. Thomas fucking cried, Lafayette choked on their coffee, but you said it back like you weren't even thinking, like you didn't even have to think about it, like it always just _there_ for you, and _I_ was the one who had to catch up. I never felt more loved than I did that day, being with you is always knowing I'm safe and protected and, yeah, we're stupid wild and we're dumb drunk but if I had to be any of those things, which I am more than I'd like to admit, I'm glad it's with you.  
  
I'm glad my _life_ is with you, taking care of Fettuccine, or when I'm dead on Hercules' living room floor and one of you come to get me, or when I get to sit in the back of the car and listen to you talk about your days, even if we were all in the same meetings and I'm listening to stuff _I_ said. When we get up at three in the morning and go on spontaneous ice cream dates in the park, or when you let me help you through bad nights, binge watching shows and having marathons of movies we don't like, falling into bed because we can't even hold up a conversation anymore without falling asleep.  
  
Not to even," he looked down as his shoes, laughing, " _mention_ our sex life, because trust me this would dissolve into a very different speech if you give me even one minute, but being with you is always nice. If nice is even the _word_ for what the fuck we get up to." Thomas and Lafayette laughed, trying not to let more tears fall.  
  
"I guess, though, basically what I'm trying to say is that I loved you even before we got together, and the life we made since then has always been and always proved to be one of the best experiences of my life. I want to continue being with you for as long as fate allows me to, so, uh," he chuckled, taking the box out from behind his back, knee cracking as he knelt down on it. Lafayette looked away again, crying and laughing at the same time. "Thomas Jefferson, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette, will you marry me?"  
  
"Yes!" Lafayette cried, blushing.  
  
" _Yes_ ," Thomas whispered, going over and pulling him up by the tie, crashing their lips onto his. Lafayette followed, kissing Alex the moment he was free.  
  
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," they repeated. "Oh my god, I love you so much. I can't believe you did that." They took the ring as Alex handed it to them and slipped it on their finger, more tears falling. Thomas took his ring out, putting it on and kissing Alex's cheek.  
  
Alex wiggled his eyebrows. "I did _that_ ."  
  
Thomas laughed so loud it echoed. "Shut _up!_ " He kissed him again, warm feeling in his chest and stomach as he did. Alex put his hands on his belt loops and pulled him closer, moving one of his hands so it gripped the collar of their dress, kissing them.  
  
" _Please_ ," Alex whispered. " _Fuck_ , please. I've been sweating in this suit for three hours, I would _love_ to be sweating _out_ of this suit."  
  
Lafayette scrunched up their nose. "You gross me out," they said, undoing his tie anyway. Alex smiled, looking over to Thomas and kissing him again. He took a moment to think about how practiced they were at this, two people occupying one, admittedly smaller, person's space, as Lafayette unbuttoned Alex's shirt and pushed that down his shoulders along with his jacket.  
  
"I love you," Alex whispered, kissing Thomas again. He squeaked as Lafayette kissed his neck and across his collarbones.  
  
"I love you too." He kissed his forehead. "I'm going to marry you."  
  
Lafayette stood up straight, back cracking at the speed in which they did. "We're going to marry you." Their eyes were wild with the shock of it, delighted in the realization.  
  
Alex nodded, laughing. "Yeah, but right _now_ you're going to fuck me." He took his polaroid camera from a dining room chair and then Thomas' hand, pulling him so he grabbed Lafayette and dragged them all up the stairs in a chain.  
  
God they loved this man.  
  
\---  
  
Thomas' eyes shot open as the bright light of Alex's phone screen hit his eyes. He watched Alex go into the _gay pasta_ group chat and send Hercules and Eliza the picture of the polaroids from earlier. Thomas can't see what he's typing until it's already sent, the _'THEY SAID YES_ _!!!!!!!!!_ ' caption too bright and bold _not_ to see.  
  
Thomas kissed his shoulder. "Go to bed, sweet pea. It's been a long day."  
  
"I know, I just wanted to tell Eliza and Hercules what happened. I've been waiting ten months to propose to you, they've been waiting as long as I have for this."  
  
Lafayette rolled over. " _Ten months?!_ You waited ten months to propose!"  
  
"Shit happened!" Alex argued, not mentioning the cheating thing but making it very clear that it was classified under _shit_ . "And I had to prepare my suit and the flowers and what pictures I wanted to use, the speech that was fucking useless in the end. It's harder than it looks."  
  
Thomas and Lafayette both kissed him on his forehead and shoulder respectively. "We love you," Thomas told him.  
  
"I love you too. Let's sleep."  
  
The three of them curled together underneath their comforter, legs tangled and arms overlapping as they fell asleep, as engaged in each other as they were _to_ each other.  
  
3.  
  
Lafayette woke up alone, reaching out to either side of the bed and finding nobody. They frowned, remembering Thomas was in Virginia, but Alex was at least supposed to be here. They rolled over to his side, breathing in the smell of Alex's cologne and shampoo and sighing. They should probably get up and find him.  
  
"You're awake!" Alex exclaimed as he pushed open the door with a tray full of breakfast foods and a grocery bag under his arms. He set it at the bottom of the bed and climbed in next to Lafayette as they sat up and kissed him.  
  
"You didn't have to make breakfast, _ma belle_ ."  
  
Alex rolled his eyes. "Hush, we're spending today in our room. I have snacks in the bag and the en suite is always over there, so it works. I will only be getting up to pee or let Fettuccine in and out of the room."  
  
"That's okay with me." They grinned over at him, watching him set the tray like their dining table and divvy the food between them. Lafayette didn't know how they got so lucky. "Thank you for doing this."  
  
"It's no problem," Alex assured them, smiling. "This is entirely selfish, anyway, because I want to keep you in bed with me all day."  
  
"Do you have your pills?"  
  
"In the bag."  
  
"Good," they said and kissed his cheek before taking the fork from Alex and digging into the scrambled eggs he made, Alex humming as he put butter on his toast. He had Thomas' shirt on, and Lafayette took comfort in the fact that Alex missed him just as much as they did.  
  
"Wanna hear something I was thinking about?" Alex asked, lying his head on Lafayette's chest. Evening came now, they were out of snacks, and soon they'd have to go downstairs to either find, make, or pay for food. Lafayette's hands slid under his waistband and onto bare skin, just wanted to be as close to Alex as they could be. Also, Alex just had a really nice ass, sue them.  
  
"I always want to hear what you're thinking."  
  
He looked up at them, eyebrows raised. "Two more cats."  
  
"Alex."  
  
"Hear me out! Three cats total, each gets a ring, and they walk down the aisle at our wedding as ring bearers." He tapped where Lafayette's hands were on his ass so he could roll onto his back on top of them.  
  
"And how are you going to convince Thomas to do that?"  
  
Alex looked up at them, squinting. "I'll think of something. After all, the wine shop is open every day of the week." Lafayette rolled their eyes as he picked up his phone from the opposite side of the bed and checked his text messages. He didn't say anything, just laughed every so often. Lafayette focused on staring at Alex's hair, not wanting to read Alex's texts but also too reluctant to look away.  
  
"Hercules invited us to his house to play Wii Sports and eat Chinese food," Alex told them.

"Really? Both of us?" They questioned, taking a piece of Alex's hair and braiding it. They were going to marry him. "It's not, like, a pity invite, is it? I don't do pity invites."  
  
Alex paused. "I was invited, but then I said we've been home all day and I don't want to leave you because I love you and you're super cute—"  
  
"I love you too."  
  
"Aw," he cooed, smiling. "Anyway, then I said that and Hercules was like just bring Lafayette with you because I don't think he knew Thomas was still away."  
  
"Hmm, alright. I'll go and support you, but I'm gonna get a shower first.”  
  
"No," Alex whined. "You took a shower last night, you haven't done anything to get dirty, stay in bed with me." Alex gripping their waist as they tried to get out of the bed. His phone went off again and he went to check it.  
  
"That's not the point," they answered, laughing and kissing his forehead. They rounded the bed to go to the bathroom, but Alex scrambled to sit on the cedar chest at the foot of their bed.  
  
"Wait." He sent his text message and looked up at them, big eyes that usually only worked on Thomas but did make Lafayette cave occasionally.  
  
Lafayette sighed and pushed Alex's hair back. "Yes, my love?"  
  
Alex pulled them closer by the waistband until he close enough he could kiss their stomach just above it. Lafayette's heart skipped a beat.  
  
"Let me," he whispered, getting up on his knees, hand sliding further down, "give you a _reason_ to shower, at least."  
  
Lafayette gasped as Alex reached their boxers and rested his hand there, refusing to go any further. "You have twenty minutes," they relented, leaning down and taking his phone, tossing it on the cedar chest.  
  
He hummed. "Thirty?"  
  
"...Twenty-five."  
  
\---  
  
_(6:34)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: !! I just got finished with dinner and lucy agreed to come in later and help me w wedding stuff !! aH !!_ _  
_ _  
_ "Lafayette!" Alex gasped from underneath them, phone somehow in his hands when he could barely do more than claw at their expensive sheets ten seconds before. "We're late and we haven't even showered!"  
  
Lafayette panted, head dropping to his shoulder. "Did you really just check your phone while I am _inside you?_ "  
  
"It was Thomas," he pouted. "I miss him." He groaned as Lafayette moved, dropping his phone onto the mattress below him. "And _we're_ going to miss Hercules' Wii Sports tournament if we don't get ready _now_ ."  
  
Lafayette pinned Alex's hands above his head and picked up the pace. "Ten minutes."  
  
" _Fuck_ ." His eyes snapped open. "Oh my _god_ , fifteen minutes?"  
  
"What happened to missing Hercules' sports tournament?" Lafayette asked, looking down at Alex, his bright red face and the way his hair fanned out across the pillows. They almost forgot what they were doing, so enthralled in staring at him they never wanted to stop.  
  
"Hercules can fucking _wait_ . I, on the other hand, can _not_ , so **_keep moving_ ** ."  
  
"You're so bossy when you're needy," Lafayette grumbled, but relented, taking immense delight in the way Alex's jaw dropped open as they did.  
  
\---  
  
Lafayette never really hung out with Alex's friends before. They'd picked him up from nights when he was too tired to move but still wanted to come home, and made small talk with both of them about nothing that really mattered. They went to Eliza's and Maria's wedding, got tipsy and stumbled home with Thomas after Alex had to stay back and clean up as co-best man, and they heard all twenty minutes of Hercules' rant about wanting to fuck John, but as to _hanging out_ , they had no experience.  
  
"This is going to be a disaster," Lafayette whispered, nuzzling into Alex's shoulder. They were still in the sappy place from earlier, not getting time to let it leave their system before they got dressed and ran out the door, trying so hard to make it there on time that they actually got there early. Alex didn't seem to mind, though, humming and resting his head on theirs.  
  
"No it won't," Alex assured, kissing their cheek. "They're my best friends, and you're my best friend, just love each other as much I love all of you, and you'll be good."  
  
They laughed. "It's not that easy, _mon amour_ . Your heart is bottomless and can fit everyone inside. I can’t do that."  
  
"It is, it _is_ , and if I can, you **_can_ ** ," Alex insisted and then knocked on the door.  
  
\---  
  
Now, maybe Lafayette was a little tiny bit smashed on the win they brought, or still coming down from the high that having sex with Alex gave them, but they _really_ loved Alex. They watched him bounce around and try to beat Eliza at tennis, swinging his arm wildly like it would do any good. He tied his hair up, letting the rainbow sweatband around his head on full view. The gold necklace Thomas gave him for their anniversary peeked out from underneath his shirt, his tiny, _tiny_ shorts revealing a bite mark on his thigh that Lafayette hadn't even noticed was visible.  
  
The next thing they knew, Alex knelt in between their legs. Lafayette sat up and moved to hold him, catching the daggers Eliza shot them and rested them on Alex's waist. It wasn't their fault that Alex had a nice ass, there was really nothing they could do about it and very little to resist it.  
  
Lafayette grinned as Alex frowned and played with their shirt. "Can you believe this?" Lafayette hummed and pulled his shirt out of the _tiny_ shorts, hands rubbing over the skin of his stomach.  "I was doing so good."  
  
They snorted. " _Mon petit pois_ , I love you, but you can't play sports in any capacity." Alex squeaked as they grazed the small of his back, but Eliza and Hercules didn't hear. "Where did your hope come from here?"  
  
"Rude!" Alex poked their chest. "I propose and the only way you respond is by bullying me."  
  
Lafayette grinned and kissed his forehead. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too." Alex kissed them; his mouth tasted like orange soda. He smiled into it, startling when Eliza gagged.  
  
"If _I'm_ not allowed to make out with my wife in Hercules' house anymore, y'all can't do _this_ ." She turned and exited tennis, going down the list and picking bowling with no hesitation.  
  
Alex opened his mouth to say something, but Hercules beat him to the punch:  
  
"I said you and Maria aren't allowed to _fuck_ in my house anymore because of that one New Years party, where you got make out is beyond me. She's right, though," he turned to them, "stop that."  
  
Alex rolled his eyes and turned back to Lafayette, kissing them again. Lafayette gasped but recovered, still thinking about earlier too much as their hands roamed lower and pulled him closer. Alex laughed and pulled away when Eliza screamed, leaving her mortified and Lafayette breathless. He was wild, Lafayette swore.  
  
"Bowling!" Alex cheered. "I'm gonna _obliterate_ you in bowling."  
  
Eliza looked back at the two of them, eyes wide with the knowledge that Alex will, in fact, die after this, and then began the game.  
  
They were almost three hours in, Alex was dying, Eliza left the room ten minutes ago to talk to Maria and refused to come out when Hercules asked, laughing about something Maria just said. Alex slung his arms around Lafayette's neck, face buried in their shoulder. Hercules went over to the fridge and got out water bottles.  
  
"You'll win soon," Lafayette promised, hands on the back of Alex's thighs. They needed to find out what lotion he used to make his skin so soft, but they sorted that away for another time.  
  
"Don't lie to me," he grumbled. "You know I'm going home tonight in sadness."  
  
"Well, you might not win _overall_ , but I'm sure you'll take at least one game for your own. Even if you don't, I'm still proud of you." They kissed Alex's jaw, then his cheek, then his lips.  
  
"I love you; I'm sorry I got so caught up in trying to win that you and Hercules haven't gotten to play at all."  
  
Lafayette frowned at him. " _Mon petit amour_ , you don't have to be sorry. Besides, watching you move in those shorts is _more_ than enough to make me forget about playing at all."  
  
Alex laughed. "I'm sweating like a pig and I look ridiculous trying to do sports, how do you find me attractive at _all_ right now?"  
  
"Because you're beautiful no matter what you look like." They kissed him, taking a moment to think about how lucky they were to have him.  
  
"You could tell me more about how beautiful you find me when we're home. If we do it right, I'm sure I wouldn't even have to take the shorts off, since you like them so much."  
  
Alex yelped as Lafayette pinched his thigh. "We can talk about this _later_."

When Alex won, he screamed so loud the people below Hercules' apartment pounded on the ceiling to get him to stop. Alex cheered again, running and climbing into Lafayette's lap, lips crashing onto theirs. They held his waist and leaned backwards, letting him hover over the ground, giggling, before pulling him back up. Alex squeaked and went over to Eliza on the floor, kissing her forehead before going and lying back in Lafayette's lap.  
  
"Babe, _ma belle, l'amour de ma vie_ , we have to go _home_ . My honor and dignity have been shattered."  
  
Lafayette combed their hands through his hair. "Of course, _mon petit pois_ , let's go."  
  
Alex pulled them up and they said goodbye, Lafayette wrapping their arms around Alex as they left. His skin was damp from sweat, but they didn't care, as Alex smiled and led them both to elevator. Loving Alex was already so nice, they just wish Thomas were here to love him too, so they could look at each other with those eyes when Alex got clingy like he did now. It was never a bad look, always loving and grateful to be with someone as outwardly affectionate as Alex.  
  
"Did you ever text Thomas back?" Lafayette asked, kissing behind Alex's ear as they got in the elevator.  
  
"Oh! No, I didn't. Poor babe, he probably thinks we're ignoring him, or leaving him on read."  
  
"Still don't get that."  
  
Alex rolled his eyes. "For being the baby of our relationship, you really are nine hundred years old."  
  
"Rude."  
  
_(12:01)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: that's so great!! sorry we didn't text you back earlier!! a lot happened tonight and it slipped our minds we love you so much!!_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:03)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: ooh what did you do tonight??_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:03)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: I watched movies with my family that were all bad except ella enchanted which is still fucking bomb so I really have nothing to bring to this convo except my love_ _  
_ _  
_ "When he gets home," Alex said, "I'm going to kiss him for so long that I die of old age before it's over, and then I'll come back and haunt you both so we can have cool ghost sex."  
  
"We don't get a mourning period? You just die and then ghost sex?"  
  
Alex looked up at them. "Yeah."  
  
"...Alright."  
_  
_ _(12:04)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: that's so cute !! I love you sm!!_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:04)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: and !! also we spent most of the day in bed !! until hercules invited us to play wii sports @ his house and we did that for five hours and I lost horribly_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:05)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: oh!! and we fucked twice which was very fun_ _  
_ _  
_ "You're going to kill him," Lafayette warned.  
  
" _No_ , I won't. We're calling him tomorrow and don't even think for a _minute_ that that won't either start out as or develop into something sexual. I _miss_ him, Lafayette, I wasn't made to be away from him for this long."  
  
"You're so cute. And put lube on the grocery list, we're running low." _  
_  
"Already did it on our way here. I know what I'm about."  
  
The elevator doors dinged and slid open, Alex guiding them out.  
_  
_ _(12:05)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: of course_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:06)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: !! honestly I can't wait to be home I miss you both so much and !! my house kind of makes me sick like I've been here for a week but sometimes it's like wow I remember literally everything all the time everywhere and I'd !! rather not_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:07)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: also !! figured out that if I am in a car with my family, I have to drive the car or else I have flashbacks woOhoo_ _  
_ _  
_ "Oh no," Lafayette whispered, standing outside the car.  
  
_(12:07)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: babe are you okay?? do you want to come home early_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:08)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: no I'm fine!! I mean, I want to come home Soon because our house is nice and I love you both, but I have to Do This because I would like to Talk to my Family again, it's just hard_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:09)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: I love you so much !! I can't even imagine how difficult that must be and I'm constantly in awe of you and how much you handle and I just !! I love you_ _  
_ _  
_ Alex turned to hug Lafayette. "He's so fucking _strong_ , Lafayette, he doesn't deserve to have to go through this. He never deserved anything that happened to him."  
  
"I know, _ma belle_ , I know. I'm so happy he's with us."  
  
"Me too," he mumbled, face pulling away to read the new text message that popped up, turning back so Lafayette could read them over his shoulder. _  
_ _  
_ _(12:10)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: I love you too sweet pea !! thank you for listening I'm sorry I ruined your night with my Nonsense_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:11)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: no!! you don't have to be sorry!! any problem of yours is important to us and we're always here to listen to ya_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:12)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: wait have you felt like this the whole time??_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:13)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: uhhHh the first night I got here I had to be locked in my room with my mom because I had a bad breakdown and was throwing up for a mAjorirty of the night bc of all the ;) sobbing (; , but I was being taken care of so I didn't want to bother you_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:14)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: when you get home I'm going to bury you in throw blankets, leaving only enough room for me and laf to smother you to Literal death and we only leave for food and to pee and let fettuccine in and out of our room but hopefully she is in the room 75% of the time_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:15)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: I love you_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:15)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: I can't wait to come home_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:16)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: us either!!!! now get some sleep and we'll talk to you in the morning <3 _ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:16)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: !! I will !! drive home safe !!_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:17)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: !! we will !! we love you_ _  
_ _  
_ _(12:18)_ **_babe <3_ ** _: I love you too!!_ _  
_  
"I love my b _oy_ friend!" Alex sang, loudly and terribly off key. "He's beautiful and I'm gay!"  
  
Lafayette laughed and pulled themself away from him, both of them getting in the car and driving home. Alex smiled down at his phone as we went through pictures of the three of them. Lafayette caught glimpses of the screen at the red lights, of their beach trip and lying in bed, Eliza's wedding and random photos of one of them cooking dinner or going on dates.  
  
"I love you," Lafayette said, hand twitching on the gear shift. They wanted to grab Alex's hands, but didn't want to pull it away from his phone in case he didn't want to.  
  
Alex waited until the car stopped again and kissed their cheek. "I love you too."  
  
Falling into bed after they changed the sheets was the best feeling in the world to Lafayette, seconded only to Alex getting in bed next to them and pulling their comforter over the two of them. He sighed and cuddled next to them, kissing his sternum and going to bed, peaceful and content and just as stunning as he was awake. Lafayette ran their fingers through Alex's hair, kissing his forehead and then fell asleep.  
  
4.  
  
_(1:06)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: goT ELIZA TO AGREE TO DRIVE US TO PICK UP THOMAS!!_ _  
_ _  
_ _(1:07)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: also unrelated but still important: Can we have kids Now Please_ _  
_ _  
_ _(1:07)_ **_lafayette <3_ ** _: ,,,,alex,,,,_ _  
_ _  
_ _(1:08)_ **_lafayette <3_ ** _: come to my office??_ _  
_ _  
_ _(1:09)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: yeah I just got back gimme a min_ _  
_ _  
_ Alex walked into their office a few minutes later, not saying anything as he shut the door behind him and pulled them up from the desk to the chair on the opposite side of the desk. Lafayette laughed, falling into the chair as Alex pushed them and accepted it as he sat on their lap. He wrapped his arms around their neck and leaned their head on their shoulder.  
  
"We haven't even talked about anything yet," Lafayette said. "You're already all curled up."  
  
"I went to the kindergarten Eliza works at today and all of the kids were so tiny and they were all so nice and I really want to have kids with you and Thomas and I've _known_ that, but I, it's taking over my heart." He curled further into a ball. "But I know it's not that easy, and I know it's gonna take time and that we have to like, do a bunch of other stuff and talk about it with Thomas, but it's just how I feel. Is this too soon to bring it up?"  
  
"...Alex we've been dating for three years. You've talked about wanting kids before, we've _known_ . And I do mean we, because Thomas knows, and wants the same thing, and he might a little need time to adjust and prepare for that—"  
  
"Which I am more than willing to give him."  
  
"Right. My point is, though, _petit pois_ , that we are willing to and we _want_ to have children with you. We've always wanted that; there's no reason to be afraid, my love."  
  
"It's just that when I first got to New York, like a billion years ago, everything was about work and school and going to work and going to school and the last thing on my mind was making friends, let alone dating, and I spent five years just _alone_ ."  
  
Lafayette nodded and rubbed Alex's shoulders. He told them this story before, eight months into their relationship when he actually felt comfortable to tell them everything. Lafayette would always remember that night as the same one they knew they wanted to be with him and Thomas for the rest of their life. Lafayette wanted to make them as happy as they made them, to give the two people who loved them with their entire being and extend that same love back to them.  
  
"I worked at a fucking ice cream shop, Lafayette. I basically lived on it for seven years because it was all I ate. I deleted and burned all of the pictures from back then, you would've hated me. I hated me."  
  
"Don't say that! I love you no matter what you look like. You know that. Anyway you are, I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
"Do you want to keep telling your story? I'm still listening." They kissed his cheek. Alex sniffed and pushed his glasses up, little beauty mark on his cheekbone standing out. Lafayette moved their hand out from under his knees to rest on his shin, wishing they had more hands so they could hold him and comfort him at the same time.  
  
"Yeah. I lived in a bad neighborhood, in a bad apartment. There was no heat, air conditioning, or water some of the time. It was terrible, but it was all I could afford. I didn't want kids at _all_ back then, because my life was terrible and if anything ever happened, I wouldn't be able to take _care_ of a child. When we first started dating, I still didn't want kids, because I'd only been working at Washington's a year and I was scared, and I didn't want you thinking that somewhere I still think that, because I _don't_ ."  
  
"We know you don't, Alexander. We _know_ you don't. Do you remember two years ago wh—"  
  
"Assuming I have any memories at all is really an overestimation of my character."  
  
" _Two years ago_ ," they repeated, smiling when Alex laughed. "It was around Christmas, and you and Thomas got drunk because you thought you were going to be _party people_ from now on, even if you had no parties to go to. You were both so cute, I almost died, and you came up from behind me, put your arms around my neck and told me how much you loved me. Then said you just want to be with us forever, get a cute little house in the country and have four million kids that would help raise all of our chickens or whatever we get."  
  
"Oh my god."  
  
"I literally _poured_ you into bed that night. Thomas cried over getting you drunk, because you get sick when you get drunk and he thought it was his fault."  
  
Alex whined. "I love that _man_ . I want to marry him now."  
  
"Me too, love. Me too."  
  
"Can we call him tonight? I know he's coming home tomorrow, but I want to see him sooner."  
  
Lafayette nodded. "Of course."  
  
"I love you," Alex whispered, kissing Lafayette's jaw. Lafayette leaned down and kissed him, noticing absently how warm his skin was. They were going to marry this man, they were going to have kids with him. God, they were so blessed.  
  
"I love you too. I'm making dinner tonight."  
  
"Ooh, can we have pasta? Or chicken? Or fucking _salad?_ I _love_ salad."  
  
"I can make all of that if you help me."  
  
Alex relaxed in the chair, letting his legs hang over the sides. "If I'm helping you, I'm making garlic bread."  
  
" _Yes_ . I'm excited now."  
  
"Do we have soda at the apartment?" Alex asked, squinting and fixing Lafayette's lipstick.  
  
"What kind?"  
  
"Orange soda?"  
  
"No, we can stop for it though if you want it. I need to buy salad dressing and and alfredo sauce so we have to go to Target anyway."  
  
Alex threw his head back. "Fucking _love_ Target."  
  
"Love," Lafayette said, kissing his neck, "we have to get back to work."  
  
"Ugh," Alex groaned and sat up, "Fine."  
  
Lafayette grinned and kissed him as he stood. "I love you, see you at five."  
  
"See you at five! I love you too!"  
  
\---  
  
Lafayette loved a lot of things in this world, but if they had to pick a top five it'd be: Thomas, Alex, going on dates, bread, and _falling and staying asleep_ .  
  
So when Alex, tied for first for their favorite thing in the world, woke them up by nosing at the underside of their jaw, they had to admit they felt very conflicted. They groaned out a what, not opening their eyes just yet.  
  
"When Thomas gets home can we go on a date?" He kissed their neck. "Like, after we nap?"  
  
Lafayette looked down at him, pouting, batting his stupid eyelashes and this wasn't fucking _fair_ . They kissed the side of his head before answering, "Of course. We can go to that Thai place that you and Thomas like."  
  
"Ooh," Alex whispered, "but what if went to the other Thai place that Thomas likes more but lies about it because I like the place you're talking about. He deserves that, he's been gone for two weeks."

"True, okay. Yeah, he'll like that." Lafayette took Alex's hand as he buried his face in their shoulder.  
  
"Do you think he bought us shit in Virginia?"  
  
Lafayette laughed, remembering the conversation they had the pleasure of watching between their two boyfriends. Alex asked Thomas about the things he got them in Virginia, and it wasn't a question of _if_ but _what_ , to which Thomas tried to say he got nothing, but his face was bright red and his voice cracked more often than Alex's spine. Lafayette cackled, catching Thomas' eyes that only said one thing: _he's going to kill me_ .  
  
"Oh, you _know_ he bought us shit in Virginia." They laughed as Alex nosed deeper into their arm, whining.  
  
Hercules, who'd previously been snoring in the passenger seat, jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes. "Can we get food?"  
  
"Food sounds nice," Alex muttered, and Lafayette agreed. "And while we're up, I can get Hercules to tell me about his date with John now while we're all up, because I know y'all fucked and I need those details, babe."

Lafayette could hear the smile in Hercules' voice as he answered. "You'll get them, hon."  
  
They kissed the side of Alex's head. Lafayette loved his friendship with Hercules and Eliza, made them happy and grateful that Alex had people who loved him as much as they did. Lafayette spared a thought for Adrienne, who was coming in in four days, but Hercules drew them from those thoughts, recounting the story of his date with John. He drawled on for what felt like hours, some of it cute things John said or did that sounded a lot like Lafayette's thoughts on their first real date with Alex and Thomas, and other things needlessly boring, like the texture of the cloth napkins, just to bore Alex to death.  
  
"Hercules!" Alex groaned. "Why do you torture me? I love you so much, you are my best friend, but I need to know about the climax this is _all_ exposition."

"Fine," Hercules began, but Lafayette knew where this was headed. Eliza parked the car and Hercules darted out, leaving Alex wheezing.

"Hercules!" Alex squeaked, kissing Lafayette and taking his wallet as he ran after him, taking a running leap and jumping onto his back. Eliza sighed, taking the keys out of the ignition.

She turned to them. "You coming?"  
  
"Nope, goodnight." They leaned against the window, waiting for their other third to get back and let Lafayette leech his warmth.  
  
They didn't have to wait long, just a few minutes, before Alex was back in their arms again. This was peace, they figured, being able to love Alex.  
  
"I got you food," he told Lafayette, kissing their cheek as they took things out of the paper McDonalds bag.  
  
"Aw, thank you, _ma crevette_ ."  
  
"Nope, no, worst one. Never again." He piled food up on their lap, so hot it almost burned.  
  
"What's so wrong with _ma crevette_ , _ma crevette?_ " They loved calling Alex cute pet names, they thought this one would be a good one.  
  
"You're literally calling me your shrimp! What if I called you _ma girafe_ ? _How would you feel?_ "

Lafayette scoffed. "I would be fine! Because I'm tall and that make sense for me to be _ta girafe_ . You're tiny and therefore _ma crevette ou notre crevette_ , deal with it."  
  
Alex divvied up the food and they kept driving as they ate. They finished everything as they got to the airport, Lafayette dragging Alex behind them as they sped in. Thomas was gone for two whole weeks, getting to see him again felt like heaven on earth to them.  
  
Their heart stopped the second Thomas came out, hair pinned up, wearing nothing fancy but somehow still managing to look stunning. He wasted no time, dropping his bag and running to them, almost bulldozing Alex trying to get his arms around the both of them. Alex responded by locking his hands behind Thomas and lifting him up off the ground.  
  
"Hey," Alex sobbed, searching for the words he usually always had. "How was Virginia?"  
  
"It was fine!" Thomas wiped tears from his eyes, laughing as Alex refused to let go. "We can talk more about it later. I missed you both so much!"  
  
"We missed you too!" They leaned over Alex and kissed him, almost wincing at the sharp taste of the airplane cookies they handed out that Thomas was in love with. "You taste like coffee cookies."  
  
He opened his mouth to say something, but Alex silenced him, holding Thomas' face as he kissed him with all he had. When he said he wasn't made to be apart from Thomas, he meant it, evident in the way he kissed like he was starved of it, like he hadn't been kissed everyday since then. Thomas reacted in kind, hands splayed wide on his back, Alex wrapping his arms around his neck as Lafayette went and got his bag.  
  
"You two can continue this at home," they said. "We need to go."  
  
"Seriously, I want to go back to sleep." Eliza rubbed her eyes, then gestured to Hercules. "These are yours, by the way."  
  
Alex placed his hand on Lafayette's stomach, making them jump. "I'm gonna hold you on that promise, _ma girafe_ ." He kissed their jaw and took Thomas' hand. "Now come on, let's go."  
  
Thomas snorted. " _Ma girafe?_ "  
  
" _Notre girafe,_ Lafayette, called me their crevette earlier because I'm shorter than you are," Alex explained, holding his hand out for Lafayette to take.  
  
"You're shorter than more people than just us, _mon petit._ " They intertwined their fingers and kept walking. They loved how small Alex was, and absolutely _hated_ thinking about if he were taller. He was perfect the way he was, and Lafayette loved every part of him.

Alex scoffed. "I want a divorce from you, I'm only marrying Thomas now."

Thomas kissed their hands and then the top of his head. "I appreciate that, sweet pea."  
  
Lafayette pulled open the door and let Thomas and Alex through, beaming at them. "Am I still allowed to marry Thomas, then?"

Alex kissed their cheek. "Of course, Thomas is wonderful."  
  
"So are you," they whispered, kissing Alex. He smiled, kissed Thomas and then got back in the car, letting Lafayette kiss Thomas before they both slid in on either sides of him.  
  
Eliza and Hercules rejoined them, reminding Lafayette that, oh, _yeah_ , there were _other_ people in the world besides them and the two loves of their life. Unfortunate, but true. Hercules asked about Thomas' trip, which led to a nice conversation of stories that Thomas didn't tell them before and both Lafayette and Alex watching for when his eyes turned cold and he skipped a part of his story he didn't want to, or couldn't, tell.  
  
"Oh, Hercules! How was your date with John?"  
  
Alex almost cried as Hercules started from the beginning. Eliza just kept driving.  
  
\---  
  
Alex took both of their hands again as they walked into the elevator to their apartment. "So, Thomas, we were talking..." He looked over at Lafayette to make sure, turning back when they nodded. They were ready to have this conversation, they _needed_ to have this conversation.  
  
"And we thought it would be good to start talking about having kids? Not having kids now! Or soon, but like, after we get married and settle from that and when we’re, like, we're sure we're _ready_ —?"  
  
Thomas stared down at him, smile breaking out across his face. His face turned pink, smiling like nobody else in the _world_ could feel as great as he did in that moment. "Okay," he all but squeaked, then added, "We can talk about it while you're opening all your presents!"  
  
Alex gasped. " _Thomas!_ "  
  
5.  
  
Alex sat across from Thomas at their dining table, staring at each other because doing anything else made them more worried than they already were. The leg Thomas wasn't bouncing rested in the cradle formed by Alex's crossed ankles. Alex watched the way Thomas blinked, the way he shaved his facial hair almost down to nothing because he was afraid of what Lafayette's grandmother might think of it. Because an accomplished lawyer fluent in six languages who was as sweet as sugar wasn't enough, apparently.  
  
"You're not blinking," Thomas commented. "How are you not blinking?"  
  
"I don't want to spend even a fraction of a second not looking at how cute you are. I like your new glasses," Alex said, referring to the black clunky glasses Thomas wore that came in the other day, square frames suiting his face and making Alex an emotional mess about the pieces of plastic his boyfriend used to _see_ . Thomas was no better, though, practically cried when Alex's new glasses came in the mail and saw they were two big ass silver circles that made his face look even rounder than it was. He kissed Alex's cheeks over and over and cuddled him on the couch for three hours until they had to eat.  
  
"I like your old glasses, and I love you."  
  
"Thank you. I love you too."  
  
Thomas looked over to the bouquets of flowers on the table. "Do you think she's going to be okay? With Lafayette, and us, and everything about us being engaged?"  
  
"I don't know," Alex answered honestly. "She knows Lafayette is nonbinary, and that they're dating us. What, exactly, her understand is of either situation is what we have to worry about, and that's entirely left to chance."  
  
"Yeah, I get that." Thomas sighed and pushed his chair out. "I'm going to go look for Fettuccine, can you stay here in case they come back before I find her?"  
  
"Of course, my love." Alex smiled as Thomas kissed their head and went up the stairs, then sighed and buried his face in his hands.  
  
God, he just wanted this to go well for Lafayette, for them to be comfortable wearing whatever and acting however they wanted around the woman who raised them to become the amazing person they were. Lafayette was such a beautiful person, inside and out, and the fact that they felt they had to hide any part of themself to get their grandmother to love them broke Alex's heart.  
  
_(2:36)_ **_lafayette <3_ ** _: she's off the plane_ _  
_ _  
_ _(2:36)_ **_lafayette <3_ ** _: we'll be home soon_ _  
_ _  
_ _(2:39)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: okay!! drive home safe !!_  
  
Alex pulled himself up and took his jeans from the back of the couch, putting them on and wondering if he should change out of the stupid fucking 'I heart VA' shirt Thomas got him, or just roll with it. Lafayette's grandmother might think it was cheesy, because it was, but Thomas would probably do the subconscious frowny thing he did and Alex hated that face, knowing he upset Thomas and being aware that Thomas didn't want him knowing about it. Besides, it was cozy and he kind of loved it, not that he'd _ever_ tell Thomas that.  
  
Thomas came down the stairs, changed from sweatpants to jeans and took his socks with little clouds on them off. His hair was down, leaving Alex to wonder if he even looked for Fettuccine at all.  
  
"Was she up there?" Alex asked, heart melting as Thomas looked down at his shirt and then back up at him with the other smile he gave but didn't know about, when his heart was so full over small gestures he couldn't even find the words to explain it. Alex groaned as Thomas fell into his arms and kissed the base of his throat where his collarbones met.  
  
"No. I'm gonna check the guest room where she keeps all of our socks, though, to see if she's hiding." Thomas' hands grazed the small of Alex's back, sending chills up his spine. He swallowed down the noise he made, blushing as Thomas beamed at him and then left, leaving Alex dumbfounded that there were two entire whole people in the world who knew how to play him like a fiddle.  
  
Thomas was still looking five minutes later when Lafayette and Marie came home, rolling her bags through the door in silence. Alex's eyes darted to the hallway where Thomas still was, then stood up and brushed off his jeans, not wanting to fuck up the only first impression he got. He smiled at her as Lafayette looked at him from behind her.  
  
It lasted a minute, maybe shorter, but an entire _novel_ worth of thoughts coursed through their mind. They looked worried, in Thomas' shirt and baggy jeans they pulled from the back recesses of their closet and insisted they had to wear.  
  
_"No, you don't get it! My entire life here, my dressing like I do, me being with you and loving you as much I am and do, she doesn't know about_ **_any of it_ ** _! This is not how she knows or sees me and I've been lying to her for four years about_ **_all of it_ ** _! And now I have to be something I'm not, I_ **_have_ ** _to be something she can fucking_ **_recognize_ ** _, or everything she loved, the child she raised, is nothing to her. I'll be dead and she will want nothing to do with me and I can't bear the weight of losing one of the small pieces of my home, of my family, again."_ _  
_ _  
_ _"Lafayette…"_  
  
They crossed the room in long strides, hand coming to the crown of Alex's head and kissing him. They were desperate, needed an anchor, Alex could tell. He kissed them slow, letting them pull away. It felt like a million years could have passed in this one kiss, but it was only a mere second. They exhaled, nodding, a silent thank you.  
  
"Where's Thomas?" They asked, carding their fingers through his hair, arm pulling him closer. Alex wanted, more than anything, to take Lafayette's worry and crush it to nothingness, but tragically their worry wasn't tangible and Alex wasn't very strong.  
  
"Oh! He's trying to find Fettuccine in the guest room; I promised I'd stay here in case you came home before he found her."

Lafayette laughed. "Where is he looking?"

"In her little sock hoard," Alex answered, humming when Lafayette kissed them. The fact that their grandmother stood right in front of them, watching, became immediately apparent. He squirmed away, putting his hand on their lips.  
  
"Not now, not _here_ . God, you haven't even introduced me to your grandmother and you're trying to jump my bones." Alex rubbed their sides over their ribcage, hoping they understood, praying to fucking everything they knew he wasn't trying to actually push them away.  
  
To Alex's relief, they laughed and kissed his head. Alex could cry. He wanted to thank every force in the known and unknown universe for giving him Lafayette.  
  
" _Mémère_ , this is one of my boyfriends, _Alexandre_ ; Alex, this is my grandmother." Lafayette let go of Alex to let them shake hands, their own shaking but trying to steady itself on Alex's back.

"Nice to meet you," Alex greeted, nodding his head. He was so stressed out.

" _Très heureuse._ "  
  
He was about to say something else, but then Thomas either died or hit the dresser head on trying to catch Fettuccine. He screamed, validating his survival, and Alex looked at Lafayette, too familiar expressions on their face.  
  
"Sweet pea, I found her!" Thomas came out with Fettuccine as Alex felt his own face heat up. "She _was_ behind the—oh!" He stopped, gulped as he turned as red as Alex. Thomas called him sweet pea in front of other people millions of times, Alex was almost used to it, but now it was in front of Lafayette's _grandmother_ . Lafayette bit their lips to stop from laughing in the loaded moment of silence they offered themselves to.  
  
Marie didn't seem to care about any of that, however, scooping Fettuccine up in her arms. Thomas let her, too embarrassed and shocked to move. His mind collected itself and he immediately walked over to them, hiding his red face in Lafayette's shoulder. Alex bounced on his feet, pulling him away and kissing him. Thomas hummed, breath catching, trying to grab more of him, but Alex pushed him away. What about Alex's I heart VA shirt made his partners want to take it off of him, he will never know.  
  
"Rude," Thomas muttered, straightening out his clothes.  
  
Lafayette cleared their throat. " _Mémère_ , this is Thomas."  
  
"Hello! I'm so sorry you had to meet me like that." He held out his hand and Lafayette's grandmother shook it, although she was reluctant to let go of their daughter, which all three of them understood.  
  
" _C'est bien_ , it is my pleasure to meet you."  
  
They helped her unpack and get settled, showing them a tour of the the apartment everywhere except their bedroom, which was a mess of clothes on the floor and their unmade bed. Their bathroom was a mess of hair products and makeup, towels almost overflowing in the hamper.  
  
Thomas grabbed his hand as they went bac k to their room, Lafayette staying behind to talk to their grandmother and letting them go up.  
  
"I hope they're okay," he whispered. Alex moved so Thomas' arms hung over his shoulders, taking both of his hands and kissing them.  
  
"Me too, sugar cube, me too."  
  
Thomas was quiet for a moment. "Can you call me sugar cube more often?""  
  
"Of course." They stopped, Alex turning and pulling Thomas to kiss him. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
Lafayette ran out of the room, catching up with them before they reached the stairs. All of their attention was immediately on them, hands out ready to touch them but not sure if Lafayette wanted that.  
  
"We're going to dinner tonight, me and her. I'm going to tell her about the engagement and then we'll probably just come back here."  
  
Alex nodded. "Okay. What're you gonna wear?"  
  
"I don't _know_ . I don't have anything."  
  
"We'll think of something," Thomas promised, but Lafayette shook their head.  
  
"One of you needs to start dinner soon and make sure you eat."  
  
Thomas squinted at them. "It's three in the afternoon."  
  
"...Really?" They groaned when Alex and Thomas nodded. They collapsed in their arms. "This day has been five million years long."  
  
"We know, love."  
  
"Can we fucking _nap_ for like an hour?" Lafayette asked, eyes tired, looking like they were two seconds from collapsing. Alex kissed them.  
  
"Of course, come on, _ma girafe_ ."  
  
"I'm right behind you, _ma crevette_ . I love you both."  
  
"We love you too," Alex and Thomas replied, taking their hands and guiding them up the stairs.  
  
\---  
  
Alex woke up in his, preferably, favorite way, with Thomas kissing his face and Lafayette in his arms. He smiled, letting Thomas continue before opening his eyes, kissing his nose once he stopped.  
  
"Hello, sugar cube."  
  
"Hi, sweet pea. It's a little after five right now, so I thought it would be good for us to get up. I can make dinner and you can help find Lafayette clothes."  
  
"Why do y'all never let me cook dinner?" Alex asked, reaching behind him to cradle Lafayette's jaw, grazing his thumb over their skin until their eyelids fluttered open.  
  
"Because, while you're very good at it, our kitchen is almost always a complete mess after, and you still owe Lafayette money for the deposit they're not going to get back for getting cheese on the ceiling that one time."  
  
Lafayette cleared their throat and cuddled further into Alex. "I forgave him for that."  
  
"Yeah, but you won't let me pay the fucking deposit back."  
  
"It's not important."  
  
"It is _very_ important, knowing what this apartment costs to live in a mon—"  
  
"Babes!" Thomas interrupted. "I am making dinner. Lafayette, you are finding clothes that you _like_ and that _fit you_ . Alex, you are helping Lafayette. Are we good?"  
  
They stared wide-eyed at him, Alex swallowing. He was really hot.  "You're really hot."  
  
"Get _going_ ." He kissed them both and went downstairs.  
  
Alex fucking _loved_ Thomas.  
  
He turned to Lafayette, who looked at him like he'd hung the stars himself. "He's _really_ hot."  
  
"I know, _mon petit_ . I'm very lucky to have the both of you."  
  
Alex leaned down and kissed them, hands on their jaw while theirs held his waist. They loved how peaceful they were like this, didn't want them to leave the room where they'd have to work themself up. Their legs tangled together underneath the comforter. Their legs were always so smooth, Alex loved them so much. They wanted to get Thomas back up here and spend the rest of the night like this, the rest of their life.  
  
"I need to find clothes," Lafayette reminded him, pushing his hair out of his eyes.  
  
Alex sighed, but couldn't resist them. "Okay. Let's go."  
  
Picking out clothes seemed to be a more difficult task than Alex thought it would be. Not that he minded, he'd walk to the ends of the earth for Lafayette, but they had so many clothes and none of them were okay, either to pink or blue or yellow or too long or too short or too flowy. Alex pulled out some things, most of which were put on the no pile, some on the maybe, but he was pretty sure that was just so he didn't get upset.  
  
Lafayette sighed and threw another yellow shirt on the pile, tying Alex's fancy robe around their waist. "I have no more clothes left."  
  
"Hey, what about that pink dress th—"  
  
"We already did that one." They held up their nails, repainted pink to match the dress they almost settled on, but decided not to last minute.  
  
"No, not that one. The one with the black sleeves and the, like, edges are all black? The skirt has that little part that's asymmetrical? " Alex got up from off the bed, setting Lafayette's work shirts that piled up on his lap gently down on the bed. They'd need to block out a whole day soon just for reironing all of this.  
  
"Okay, now I know what dress you mean," Lafayette said, following him into the closet.  
  
Alex pulled it from the pink section of Lafayette's closet. It was a gorgeous dress, and Lafayette was a gorgeous person. It was a match.  
  
"How about this?" Alex held it up to his own body and twirled in it, savoring the way Lafayette chuckled a little, if only to break the worried eyebrows that set into their face an hour and a half ago. He set it down on one of the few empty spots on their bed. "It even matches your nails."  
  
"I don't know…"  
  
Alex stared at them, all long legs and muscle and angular features that made them look like a fucking Renaissance statue. The fucking _David_ could not compare to them, nothing could. Every part of them down to the core of their bones was perfect, all except maybe the fact that they were so fantastic they put everyone else in the world to shame.  
  
He hesitated, knowing that Lafayette was running out of options. "Why? You'd look beautiful in this."  
  
"...What if she resents me?" They fiddled with the belt of the robe, tears dotting their eyes. The love of their life, the reason for the air in his lungs and the love in his heart.  
  
"Honey…" He placed his hands on Lafayette's waist, kissing their neck.  
  
" _Alexandre_ ."  
  
" _Lafayette_ , my love, my light, half of my reason for being, you look stunning right _now_ ."  
  
They looked down at him, doubtful. "I'm in a robe...Your robe, actually."  
  
"Hmm, I know. That's why it's so short; not that I'm complaining." Alex's hands rested on their thighs now. Lafayette laughed and pulled them away.  
  
" _Alex!_ "  
  
He pulled them close, holding Lafayette's chin so they focused only on him. " My _point_ is, no matter what you wear, you will look beautiful as long as you are _comfortable_ . If you wear the dress, and you aren't comfy and confident like you _deserve_ to be, then you don't need to wear the dress. You can wear jeans, or dress pants, or literally anything, and you would look gorgeous in it all. Your grandmother would still love you, and we would support you and _absolutely_ throw hands if she even _implies_ that she doesn't."  
  
"Thank you. I love you."  
  
Alex kissed the side of Lafayette's nose and hugged them. "I love you too, and it's no problem, _ma crevette géante._ "  
  
"...Did you just call me a jumbo shrimp?" Their voice came out muffled in his shoulder.  
  
"Did you just ask me to translate your first language _for you?_ "  
  
Lafayette pulled back and kissed him. "I'm going to go get dressed now, just know that when I come back out I am going to kill you."  
  
The dress fit them like a glove, hugging their hips and their shoulders and every part of them Alex loved. They turned around for Alex to zip them up, squeaking as Alex kissed slowly up their spine, biting their shoulder once it was fully zipped. They opened their mouth to say something, but then there was a knock on the door, Marie. Thomas never knocked. It was his house.  
  
"I'll get it," Alex told them, opening the door. He wasn't wearing pants. Fuck.  
  
"I wanted to know what time we were leaving?" She didn't seem to notice the pants.  
  
Alex turned around to see them. Fuck, they were stunning. "Love?"  
  
"Oh!" They looked up. "Seven? Is that okay? It's six thirty now."  
  
Marie nodded and started to turn to the stairs, but stopped. She looked at Lafayette. "You look stunning, _mon amour_ ."  
  
Alex screamed as he accidentally slammed the door, running over to Lafayette and picking them up so easily he lifted them right off the ground. Lafayette laughed, tears running down their face as they cried into his shirt. They grabbed him the moment they were on the ground and kissed him, pulling him in and falling onto the piles of clothes on the bed.  
  
Lafayette left with their grandmother, leaving Alex and Thomas alone for the night. Thomas wrapped his arms around him, kissing his cheek.  
  
"I have salad, spaghetti, breadsticks, and cheesecake, along with a bottle of that wine you like. I have nothing to talk about, so you don't have to worry about rambling, and then we can relax after."  
  
Alex snorted. "Is this your way of trying to get into bed with me?"  
  
"...Is it working?"  
  
"Let's get through dinner first," Alex decided. "Then we can see what happens."  
  
"Okay. I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
They did end up going to bed, but instead of fucking like originally intended, Alex crawled into Thomas' arms and waited for Lafayette to come home. He knew Thomas didn't mind, curling around Alex and kissing his head, nose buried in his hair.  
  
_(9:14)_ **_sweet pea <3_ ** _: we're going to bed now love !! we love you so much and when you get home please wake us up and we can tal K!!_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:20)_ **_lafayette <3_ ** _: we're going for italian ice and I'm crying and so happy I love you both so much I should be home by 10!!!_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:21)_ **_lafayette <3_ ** _: and she said she's v happy that the people who love me as much as she does are marrying me and she's walking me down the aisle!!_ _  
_ _  
_ "I'm so happy things worked out," Thomas muttered, barely hanging on to consciousness. Alex grinned and kissed him.  
  
"Me too. Go to sleep, sugar."  
  
Thomas grumbled. "M'kay, g'night sweet pea."  
  
Lafayette came home half an hour later, unzipping their dress and letting it fall to the floor, kicking off their shoes and falling into bed beside Alex, who was still awake. He kissed their temple, wrapping their arms around them and kissing their shoulder.  
  
"Is it okay if we don't talk?' Lafayette asked. "Can we sleep and then talk in the morning before we go down for breakfast?"  
  
"Of course it's okay, love. I'll see you in the morning."  
  
Lafayette kissed his forehead. "I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
6.  
  
Lafayette came out of the guest room and into the kitchen as Thomas tried to read the directions out of the cookbook, hopping onto the counter and watching him struggle. His glasses were somewhere upstairs, probably on the bathroom counter, but if he left something would surely burn and then their whole dinner would be ruined.  
  
"When Alex comes back down I want to talk to you about something," Lafayette said, flipping their phone around in their hands.  
  
Thomas hummed. "What about?" He asked, looking up at them when they didn't say anything. He'd be lying if he said his heart didn't speed up with worry, a million thoughts coursing through his head at once. Lafayette seemed to sense this, turning his chin up and kissing him, warm metal of the ring on their finger against his cheekbone.  
  
"Nothing _bad_ , I promise," they assured as Alex rushed down the stairs with his phone charger in one hand and Thomas' glasses in other. Fuck, he loved that man.  
  
"I found these in the bathroom," Alex told him, pulling out the legs and carefully sliding them onto his face. If it was any other person besides the two standing on either side of him, he would've been vehemently annoyed, but it was _Alex_ . Thomas loved him so much. He adjusted the frames and leaned down to kiss Alex' nose, heart melting when he scrunched up his face but kissed him back regardless.  
  
"Thank you. Your little chicken cube things almost burned because I couldn't see how cooked they were," he told him before they both continued cooking. "Oh, and Lafayette has news."  
  
Alex put the diced chicken on the back burner so he could go to Lafayette, leaning on their closed knees. "What kind of news?"  
  
"...I was thinking about asking Adrienne to come here and stay with us? It would be around when my grandmother is here, and I haven't seen her in a long time, but I'm —"  
  
"Okay," Thomas interrupted, stirring the vegetables in the pan and looking over at them. "That's fine."  
  
Alex nodded. "Yeah. The only thing we'd really have to worry about is where she'd sleep since your grandma is in the guest room, but she can stay on the pull out couch if that's okay with her."  
  
"Really?" They whispered. "Even with the whole, past relationship thing? I didn't want things to be weird."  
  
Thomas put the vegetables in the bowl, adding in the chicken and mixing it all together. It needed salt, but they could worry about that later, when Lafayette wasn't so worried they couldn't even look at either of them. They picked at their acrylics, pastel yellow and shaped into points. Alex looked over at him, eyebrows furrowed, and then kissed Lafayette's forehead.  
  
"That was five years ago, love." Alex put his hands on their neck so they'd look at him. "You told us what happened and that it's over, and we trust you enough to be honest with us."  
  
"And we're adults, if things are weird we deal with it. And I think the fact that we're three people who are all dating each other puts us in enough weird situations with other people that we're immune now."  
  
"That's true," Lafayette sighed as they grazed their thumb over Thomas' hand. "Now that that's out of the way, can we eat? I'm _starving_ ."  
  
"Y _es!_ Let's eat!" Alex cheered, taking the bowl and putting it on the dining table with the rest of the food.  
  
"I love you," Thomas told them as they got off the counter, turning off the stove.  
  
Lafayette grinned, grabbing his face and kissing his cheeks before his lips. "I love you too. Let's eat."  
  
\---  
  
Thomas didn't like to think he was old, but when he's hopped up on two cups of coffee and still manages to fall asleep in the back of the car at eleven thirty at night just because Alex was kind of warm and his back wasn't snapped in half, he'd have to imagine that at least some part of it came with not being in his twenties anymore. Still, despite that, he'd at least hoped Lafayette would wake them up so they could meet Adrienne, but no, as he opened his eyes halfway and saw her sitting in the front seat, Lafayette driving down the street. Traitor.  
  
"Oh my god," she breathed, smile playing at her lips. She was _stunning_ , Thomas looked at her through squinted eyes. It was no wonder Lafayette had a relationship with her, she was almost as beautiful as they were, with long braids and high cheekbones, dark skin and perfect eyebrows. She leaned against the headrest, eyes moving back to look at Thomas and Alex in the backseat, but she didn't seem to notice he was awake.  
  
Thomas shivered as Alex pulled away from him moments later, leaning forward into the front seat. His hair was a mess, cheeks bright pink and glasses crooked on his face. Thomas hummed and slid his cold hands under Alex's shirt, chucking when he didn't even flinch because he was so used to it. Alex was warm in the way anyone is after they wake up from a nap, making him a furnace that proved helpful when Thomas' fingers were numb like this.  
  
" _Ma belle, ma crevette géante, mon raison de vivre_ , can we go to Waffle House, _s'il te plait_ ?" He whined, face squished against Lafayette's seat. He probably looked so cute, Thomas could almost see it.  
  
Lafayette looked over at him on a red light. "You want to eat right now? Seriously?"  
  
"I'm _starving_ ," he groaned. "Please? For me?" Thomas rolled his eyes as Alex played Lafayette like a fucking bassoon. Nobody could resist him for long, and both Thomas and Lafayette had given up on trying to fight against his charm long ago. They'd been doing this for three years, they knew the drill.  
  
"Of course, _ma poule_ ," Lafayette conceded, grinning when Alex blushed. Thomas could feel his skin warm up under him. Wake Thomas up and tell him."  
  
"Don't call me your hen in front of your childhood friends," Alex muttered, upset for being so flustered, and leaned back against Thomas. Lafayette calling Alex their hen was new, but the embarrassed phase was a good sign, in its own weird way. The first time Thomas called him sweet pea, it made Alex turn so red that Thomas thought he choked on something. It worked out, after the crisis where he refused to call him that in fear he hated it until Alex _asked_ him to, and _ma poule_ was just too cute to be let go.  
  
Lafayette snorted. "Would you rather I called you one of the pet names I called you this afternoon?"  
  
Thomas' heart skipped a beat at the mention of this afternoon, but he refused to dwell on it, or pay it more than that one thought. They were about to go to a restaurant with such bright fluorescent lighting you could see if anyone even _thought_ about sex, so now was, decidedly, _not_ the time to think about that afternoon.  
  
Alex poked him in the stomach, knowing he was awake, smiling like an asshole when he jolted and his eyes shut open. What an evil little man.  
  
"What is it, sweet pea?" He took the end of Alex's hair and tugged on it, choking back laughter when Alex swallowed the noise from the back of his throat so Adrienne didn't hear it.  
  
"We're going to Waffle House. Do you have your wallet?"  
  
Thomas knit his eyebrows together, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. "Yeah, why? Do you not have yours?" He tried to push down how excited he was to buy Alex breakfast, because Alex deserved to have someone buy him breakfast and, oh look, he has _so much money_ , but it didn't matter, Alex crushed his hope.  
  
"No, I forgot it, but you have a little pocket in the _back_ back that you don't use that I keep extra money in in case you think you want to pay for me." Thomas' jaw dropped as he pulled three twenties out of the back of his wallet, taking one before putting the rest in. Who _was_ he?  
  
Adrienne laughed at them, amused to no end. "Do you do that to Lafayette?" She questioned, look back at Alex. He stopped for a moment the way he always did when pretty people talked to him, before gathering his bearings and reconnecting his brain to his mouth.  
  
"Of course! The one little tiny pocket behind their driver's license has, like, one hundred dollars in it just in case."  
  
Waffle house was a spectacular as you could imagine a waffle house to be, but Thomas wasn't really focused on any of it. He divided his time with making sure Alex ate and listening to Adrienne and Lafayette's conversation, the soft calming looping of their voices, the way they mixed English and French seamlessly. There was an energy to it, one the made it feel like Alex and Thomas weren't invited to join in, just watch them, but he stifled that, pushed it down and refused to acknowledge it in any capacity. He can't go back to being paranoid like that again, it almost cost him Lafayette and Alex last time, he _refused_ to believe what he thought.  
  
But, it didn't feel like he was overreacting. It didn't take him long to learn to recognize when he was over analyzing, but just looking at them he could see Adrienne, eyes wide and so in fucking love with Lafayette she looked like she was ready to damn near die. Thomas knew that look, he'd _seen_ that look, in his own eyes and in Alex's, year ago before any of this happened. This wasn't him making false claims, he knew what he was seeing. Did Lafayette know?  
  
Lafayette paid for the four of them. Thomas wanted to say something but remembered he really couldn't. There was being a hypocrite and then there was _this_ , to which hypocrite couldn't even cover it without exponents added, so he thanked them when they stood, kissing their cheek and trying to ignore Adrienne's sad eyes. He didn't mean to make her upset. Fuck.  
  
They walked out together, Adrienne ahead of them, Alex leaning bodily on Lafayette as he fought off his food coma with the energy he didn't have. Thomas tried to keep his voice low but still so he knew he wasn't reading between lines that were just blank, flinching when it echoed.  
  
"She's still in love with you."  
  
Alex's eyes snapped open, turned to him with worried eyebrows, frowning. "Thomas, we talked about this."  
  
"No, he's right, _mon petit pois_ ." Lafayette sighed, leaning on Thomas' head. "I was supposed to tell you earlier, when I first told you about the exact _nature_ of our relationship, but I…" They looked down at the ground. "I forgot."  
  
Thomas' brain short circuited. "You _forgot?_ " Both him and Alex questioned, eyebrows so far up their foreheads they could just fly the fuck away.  
  
" _Yes!_ Loving you keeps me busy, both because we spend so much time together and because I am very preoccupied with our relationship and how lucky I am to be in it. Thinking about other people who are attracted to me _outside_ of you two is not something that even comes to mind, not even when it's Adrienne. You two are the loves of my life, the people I literally _plan to marry,_ nobody else matters to me the same way you do." They pulled them closer and kissed their heads. Thomas breathed, kissing their cheek and walking the two loves of their life back to the car.  
  
A week later, Thomas sat on the bathroom counter while Alex and Lafayette were in the shower. Alex phone went off, the special sparkly ring tone he used for Eliza blaring in the bathroom. Thomas sighed, shaking his head as he caught sight of the clock when his screen lit up. They were _so_ going to be late to brunch with Angelica, Hercules, Eliza, and their partners.  
  
"Can you get that, sugar?" Alex yelled, shrieking as Lafayette did something, before dissolving into a laughing fit. Thomas wanted to be in there so _bad_ , but his good shower cap was missing and he wasn't risking that when they were going to see their friends.  
  
"Yeah!" He called back. He picked up Alex's phone even though it was still going off, texts from Eliza and Hercules coming in at a rapid pace.  
  
_(9:33)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: ,,,,hey alex,,,,,,_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:33)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: abOUT lafayette's french friend from france you know heR_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:34)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: how much you you/they freak out if me and my wife kind of sort of slept with her?? like do I have to avoid contact with them for a few months bc of the awkwardness_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:35)_ **_the best mom_ ** _: YOU WHAT_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:35)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: WRONG CHAT WRONG CHAT_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:35)_ **_the best mom_ ** _: NO YOU HAVE TO GIVE ME DETAILS WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED AT DINNER LAST NIGHT THAT YOU ENDED UP FUCKING LAFAYETTES FRENCH FRIEND FROM FRANCE_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:37)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: HSHKHS SHE WAS SITTING LIKE AT THE HEAD OF THE TABLE AND I WAS RIGHT NEXT TO HER AND THEN WE LIKE,,,TALKED,,,AND LAF WAS AT THE OTHER END SO IT WASNT LIKE THEY NOTICED AND THEN WHEN WE WERE LEAVING MARIA WAS LIKE ,,,I kind of really like her,,, aND I WAS LIKE FUCK ME TOO SO UHHH WE ASKED HER IF SHE WANTED TO COME HOME WITH US AND SHE SMILED LIKE SHE WAS ABOUT TO EITHER KILL ME OR FUCK ME UNTIL I DIE AND SAID YES THE END_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:38)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: HSHHSSNSNS WH E RE IS ALEX_ _  
_ _  
_ "Oh my god!" Thomas yelled, cackling as he reread the messages.  
  
"What was it?" Alex yelled, voice strained. Those _assholes_ were fucking in the shower without him.  
  
"You know how Adrienne didn't come home with us last night and went with Eliza and Maria and told Lafayette they were going for drinks?" Thomas questioned.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"They, uh, slept together instead," he announced. He yelped when they both busted out of the shower, still completely naked and _well_ , not exactly hiding what they were doing five seconds ago. Thomas hated them.  
  
"They did _not_ ." Thomas moved Alex to stand in front of him, playing with his soaking wet hair as he absorbed all the information, Lafayette taking their own phone from the counter and texting Adrienne while Alex's fingers sped across the keys.  
  
_(9:40)_ **_…..slime man_ ** _: YOU DID N O T_ _  
_ _  
_ Alex looked over at Lafayette and kissed their bare shoulder. "Are you okay with this?"  
  
"Yeah! Yeah. It's not like I control Adrienne, she can make her own choices just fine."  
  
_(9:41)_ **_…..slime man_ ** _: ALSO LAFAYETTES CHLL NO AVOIDANCE NECESSARY_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:41)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: GOOD GOOD GOOD GREAT_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:42)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: also she's asleep rn and we're making breakfast and I'm so sad she lives in france and after this we're only going to see her if she ever comes back in and even then what if this is a fliNG I don't do flings my heart is too big and too gay_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:43)_ **_…..slime man_ ** _: aw eliza_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:45)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: SHES UP GOTTA GO BYE_ _  
_ _  
_ Alex sighed and kissed Thomas' jaw. Thomas didn't say anything, just nodded and kissed the beauty mark on his cheek. Alex looked away when his phone went off again, this time in the big group chat they all made to plan when they were going to meet up.  
  
_(9:46)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: ,,,yeah we're not gonna,,,make it to brunch,,,,,got Caught Up_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:47)_ **_ischemic chest pain_ ** _: yeah me, dolley, and angelica are Outie sorry !! ;)_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:48)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: GROSS_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:48)_ **_the best mom_ ** _: well if y'all are missing it because you're fucking then I might as well wake up john_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:49)_ **_longjohn silverse_ ** _: you wake me up hercules mulligan I swear to god I'll murder your ass_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:50)_ **_the best mom_ ** _: ,,,,,nevermind_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:50)_ **_…..slime man_ ** _: ok well then we're out_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:51)_ **_…..slime man_ ** _:I planned Time to  have sex before brunch like an ADULT but whatever its fiNE_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:52)_ **_chaotic good_ ** _: we can go to olive garden tomorrow??_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:53)_ **_…..slime man_ ** _: YAAAAAAS SEVEN OCLOCK NONE OF YALL ARE ALLOWED TO MISS_ _  
_ _  
_ _(9:54)_ **_longjohn silverse_ ** _: we're in but I gotta Go Now because hercules didn't listen and now I'm Awake and he's going to DIE_ _  
_ _  
_ "Now that brunch is cancelled," Alex muttered, turning to Thomas and kissing his neck. "You can get your hair wet and get in the shower with us." He bit down enough to make him gasp. Alex was not allowed to fuck him up like this. Thomas' breath hitched as Alex slid his hands up his inner thighs.  
  
"Okay," Thomas breathed, laughing when Alex pulled his shirt over his head and pulled him from the counter. He grabbed Lafayette and yanked them closer, kissing them as Thomas stripped down the rest of the way. Alex went back into the shower with them behind him, Thomas only sparing a second to think about the water bill before they pushed him against the cool shower wall, hands and lips everywhere as he forgot to think about anything at all besides them and the way his whole body ignited under their touch.  
  
Alex stood up and kissed him, laughing into the skin of his collarbone as Thomas buried his hands in Lafayette's hair and his jaw dropped open. He wasn't even in there for twenty seconds, and the two of them were already managing to unravel him at the very seams.  
  
He couldn't even _imagine_ going to brunch after this, how Alex ever planned to was fucking mystery to him that he would never solve.

**Author's Note:**

> !! I hoped you liked it !! it's unedited bc I wanted to get it posted on time so I'm sorry if it's messy!! 
> 
> tumblr: lol-phan-af


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